Since these grades are now the only way to evaluate a student's
academic performance and to enable us to identify students who should
not continue towards PhD, it is essential that the Ay12x course grades
should be more rigorous than they have been in the past.  While
individual professors can set their own course grading policy, the
following rules should apply:

<li> The final grade is based on homeowrks, midterms and exams.
  It is recognized that students learn in a variety of ways:
  pedagogy, colloquia but also through discussion with peers.
  Students are allowed to discuss homework problems with each other
  (or consult TA and the faculty). However, the final product that
  is turned in must be the student's own work. Exam are expected
  to test the student's true understanding of the course and 
  should not involve collaboration with any one else.
 
<li>
  Exams should carry at least 50% of the final score. We strongly
  recommend instructors to assign weekly homeowrks. Midterms
  or term papers
  are at the discretion of the instructor. 


<li>
 The students would be told clearly at the start of the class what the
  recipe for the final grade is.


<p>
Grading by TAs should also be monitored to ensure consistency among the
classes and an adequate dynamic range.

<p>
Students who obtain less than B grades in Ay12x may not be able to continue
into the PhD phase (see notes related to Second year students).